JH: Numerous British physicists were discussing the same philosophical questions as Compton and his peers, yet I get the impression that the influence ran more from east to west than from Americans to their British cousins. (See Peter Bowler, Reconciling Science and Religion: The Debate in Early-Twentieth-Century Britain, 101-121.) Is this true?

JH: Ted, with your background in physics it is easy to see why Arthur Compton would attract your historical attention. Were there other factors that drew you to study this important American scientist?